Secrets of Sound

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Too Late



In the next moment, she swung her glowing right hand downward, conjuring a sharp and screechy noise to shake the air around her as a sharp and concentrated blast of wind propelled her upwards, higher than most of the buildings in her path.

"I should have gone there sooner..." Shelt gritted her teeth, mouthing her regret right as her body reached the maximum altitude her initial blast of wind could achieve.

As Shelt momentarily hovered at the maximum height, she glanced into the distance, taking in the sight of what's to come, and by affiliation, the Slette.

With the image of the Slette within her line of sight, Shelt's heart sank. For a moment, she even forgot that she needed to create something to land on, descending from the air, wind brushing by her face, snapping her out of her stupor.

Within a blink of an eye, Shelt's left hand immediately glowed metallic, and in rapid succession, her fingers moved in a smooth and calculated motion.

Suddenly, inches away from her feet, a plain metal plate was levitating, and seconds later, Shelt landed on it, creating a loud bang as it broke her impact.

"Haaah, thank goodness" Shelt let out a breath in relief.

(I really have to get there quick now) Shelt thought to herself, her eyes sharpening and her body tensing.

Compared to what Shelt saw on the live broadcast before coming here, the Slette went from a mere pole to a pillar about the width of half of the entire city of Pertice.

Following that, Shelt's glowing light green hand swung downwards again.

*EEEIIIIIIK*

Another strong blast of wind sounded, bursting from behind Shelt, shooting her forward like a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun.

(Kaelf... Lelal... Ren... Rekka... Please be alive!) Shelt begged and prayed internally.

...

Inches away from the curtain of darkness on the north of Pertice.

Large numbers of people were constantly flung forward, gliding in the air, away from the catastrophic void that followed them.

"HAZE! I'M STARTING ON THE NEXT BATCH!" The vice commander yelled as he frantically moved his fingers with increasing precision.

Suddenly, a large tidal wave of sand rushed out from the ground, capturing everyone in its wake, scooping up nearly a thousand people all at once in its waves.

As the waves of sand stopped moving, it slowly and carefully changed its form into a wall with the people it gathered sticking out of it so they could breathe.

The thousand people inside the sand were then subsequently launched one by one and caught by either a windy apparition or by a musician flying in the air.

Slowly, as more and more people were flung out of the wall of sand, the height of its walls got lower and lower until not even a grain was left.

"Do it more gently; they're going to get rashes if you continue like this, Vinte! Treat them like how you'll treat your newborn baby!" Haze joked as he casually chatted with his vice commander.

"Haaaah" the vice commander, Vinte, sighed but didn't argue with Haze.

Even though it may seem insensitive to joke around, especially in a situation like this, coming from the commander's mouth, it was the most reassuring thing Vinte could hear in this situation.

With the inclusion of Ren's Origin Phrase, the evacuation had become significantly faster and safer than before. And within just 2 minutes since its manifestation, more than a quarter of the crowd had already been evacuated.

However, the evacuation was not perfect. The windy apparitions were very effective in transferring people to the safe zone, but that's the only thing they do. The windy apparitions had no mind or consideration, almost like a computer program that can only perform one function. Which, just like a machine, they require human assistance in order to operate at full capacity.

However, all the other musicians needed to do was make sure to relocate the evacuees that were dropped off at inconvenient spots, as well as assist the injured so that they won't get caught in the Slette.

"Don't look at me like that; we are on a course to absolute success right now, so lighten up!" Haze retorted, never losing his focus for even a second despite the banter.

"It's all thanks to him..." Vinte said solemnly, responding to Haze as his gaze redirected to Ren,

Both Haze's and Vinte's faces turned regretful, staring at the kid, the living proof of their failure as capable adults.

...

After a mere 10 minutes, the whole area was empty, cleared of any living humans.

But yet, now that the area is clear, it revealed the most unsettling truth of all. An unsettling graveyard stood in its place, displaying the true horror of this disaster.

Bodies, blood, and gore were left strewn across the ground, still warm even after their final breath of life. painting the once peaceful roads and streets a deep, painful red.

"T-this—" a crimson-haired woman stuttered, almost puking as she witnessed this unsettling sight.

...

Shelt rushed over here faster than she'd because she got near, she briefly heard a song, a song that gave her a sense of familiarity, making her eyes widen and stirring her heart with all kinds of emotion, similar to the dying wail even. Despite not knowing why she felt that way, she increased her speed exponentially, like she was driven by something, something that forced her own instincts to go against her will.

*TTUUUUU Duuuu du daaaa....*

When Shelt got there, the music that drew her here had already begun fading, with only twinkles of its former grandeur flickering as the melody ends.

(Who was their leader!) Shelt thought in shock despite still being repulsed by the sight in front of her.

In all the evacuation zones, none of them, even with the help of some of the most powerful musicians their world had to offer, were able to finish evacuating their zone, let alone prepare to wrap it up.

But yet, even though Haze was a whole level weaker than Tali, Shelt's team leader/commander, his evacuation zone was the fastest among the others.

(No! I have to find Ren and Rekka) Shelt shook his head as she thought, her eyes turning sharp, prepared to spot a needle in a haystack.

When Shelt first made her way here, she was hoping to find her elder brother and his family alive, but as she continued her journey to get here, listening to the song, it's like she subconsciously knew that her brother and his wife were gone already.

Out of everyone here, the only one that could truly connect and feel what this song truly held… was her, the last remaining relative to the two siblings in the center of this disaster.

"REN, REKKA, WHERE ARE YOU!" Shelt yelled out in worry.

Part of Shelt wasn't worried at all if they were alive, almost like she already knew the answer; she just needed to find them no matter what and go to them, not even knowing what she would do once she reunited with them.

Shelt continuously looked around her, stretching his vision far and close, trying to find her nephews, but it didn't take her long to find one of the nephews she was so desperately searching for.

In the middle of the now empty land colored with tragedy hovered a teenager no older than 15, floating upright in the air, unmoving despite the scenery around him.

*Swuuuuu swuuun swuu*

The boy that saved hundreds of thousands of lives in 10 minutes, his arm and hands tainted with burns and bruises, being revealed as the bandages that wrapped around them slowly unraveled, creating two lines of cloth that swung in the wind as it blew.

Suddenly, almost like the scene had come back alive, Ren's body swayed, and his body began to fall, his body looking frail and fragile despite the feat he just pulled.

"REN!" Shelt yelled in horror.

Shelt squatted on the metal platform she flew on, taking a stance, preparing to launch herself at the highest speed she could conjure.

Quickly disabling her earth resonance path, she replaced it with wind instantly. She twisted, turned, and spun both her fingers and hands simultaneously in rapid succession, creating an intricate and precise formation of wind, optimized for speed.

Following that, Shelt slanted the metal platform she flew on, tilting her body 45° as she outstretched her arms like a pincer, roughly prepared to catch Ren out of the air.

Shelt's glowing light green fingers that constantly moved during this ordeal suddenly took a hard stop, and in the next moment, he unleashed a flick from her fingers, subsequently launching herself forward in prime position to catch Ren.

*Weeeeeeeiiiiii* a sharp piercing noise rang as Shelt's figure turned into a blurry crimson line.

Moving at blinding speeds, Shelt's eyes never faltered once, despite all the turbulent winds that were in her path, pushing into her eyes.

"I got you," Shelt said frantically after catching Ren.

From when she prepared to launch herself till when she caught her nephew, only 2 seconds had passed despite her original distance between them exceeding half a kilometer.

At the speed Shelt was going, she wouldn't be able to stop herself easily without hurting Ren and herself. So, after catching Ren, Shelt did try to stop herself immediately; instead, she just allowed her speed to mellow out on its own.

*Fuuuuuuuu... TUK!*

As Shelt started to decelerate, she flipped a finger and created a brief downdraft of wind that changed their trajectory downwards, causing her heels to scrape on the ground, fortunately out of the gore-infested area.

...

"What was that!?" Haze exaggerated in fake surprise.

"C'mon, you already know what happened... What happened to him?" Vinte responded, irritated by Haze's comment.

Even though the evacuation was over, Haze was still caught up in the moment, so he hadn't dismissed his transformation yet, which allowed him to continue monitoring everything that happened within his dominion.

"He should be fine... Let's go check on him anyways, though." Haze suggested while scratching behind his right ear.

"Sure," Vinte agreed with a monotone voice.

Neither Haze nor Vinte knew they couldn't really do anything more to help, since their resonance paths and sequences that could help the injured, except for moving them. So, instead of dwelling here doing nothing, they left all of their equipment to the on-field doctors and other medical professionals before leaving to check up on the hero of today, Ren.

*Fung*

In an instant, the people who were just looking at the leading duo saw the visage of the two suddenly vanish, leaving not so much as a small puff of wind.

...

"Hey, are you someone related to this young hero?" a sincere-sounding male voice asks.

Without Shelt realizing, a slightly wavy male voice sounded behind her, causing her to shiver upon hearing him.

*Vroom*

Quickly, as a response to her surprise visitor, Shelt turned around and was greeted with a sound wave rushing at her as the sound barrier broke from the speed of her visitors.

For a moment, even though the voice had reached her, it seemed like the light had yet to keep up, causing the figures of Haze and Vinte to appear later than their voices.

"Hi," Vinte greeted with a small smile.

Shelt put up her guard, antsy about this situation, her exhaustion heightening her wariness despite knowing that other people weren't the threat.

After using the sequence that allowed her to almost reach the speed of sound, Shelt couldn't help but be exhausted, especially because she's not very proficient with the wind resonance path.

"Are you guys the leaders dispatched to this area?" Shelt asked frantically, breaking her usual calm demeanor.

"Yeah, I'm Commander Haze. What seems to be the problem?" Haze answered professionally.

Even though Haze's initial question was ignored, he wasn't bothered by it, because after seeing this lady's reaction and hearing her question, it was easy to identify that she must at least be an acquaintance of Ren.

So, drawing from his experiences, Haze decided not to pursue an answer, since, judging from how panicked she was, she must've had some important information.

"Have you seen Ren's... I mean this kid's father, mother, and sister?" Shelt asked, her voice slightly shaky.

Shelt was nervous; even though all her instincts were already telling her the answer, she wanted to see for herself if it was true, clinging on to her last string of hope.

"Oh yeah, he did bring his sister along with him" Haze voiced his thoughts out loud.

"Wait, he brought his sister... and you still brought him along!?" Vinte expressed his displeasure verbally.

Vinte felt a rush of conflicting emotions. He couldn't help but feel frustrated and angry, thinking about what a kid like Ren had to go through to trigger such an emotionally charged phenomenon, but yet there's also a small conflicting emotion that was grateful to Ren and all the events he had gone through that allowed him to trigger the Original Phrase.

On the other hand, Haze never looked back; he just moved on with his life like nothing happened. Or at least that was what he thought, because, unknown to even himself, a small attachment began to build within him as his guilt continued to fester.

"What about their parents? Have you seen them?" Shelt unintentionally raised her voice on his last sentence as desperation set in.

"Unfortunately we don't know..." Haze answered, his voice getting smaller and smaller with each word.

....

...

At that moment no one spoke a word.

The guilt that weighed Haze and Vinte down grew exponentially as they connected the dots, figuring out the catalyst for Ren to trigger an Origin Phrase.

"We should get Ren and his sister to the medics... You should know where his sister is, right, Haze?" Vinte solemnly said, breaking the silence and taking the lead.

With that said, Haze nodded and turned to Shelt, gesturing for her to pass Ren's unconscious body over to him since it is evident that she's exhausted.

"Alright, wait a moment," Shelt replied without looking at Haze, only staring at her nephew.

Shelt's hands turned back to their normal colors as she deactivated her Node, but seconds later, both her hands and half of her arms started to glow metallic.

After that, she held Ren in between both of her arms and slowly began moving her fingers precisely, creating a short, mindless melody that repeats itself.

*Cri criiiiik cri~*

Slowly, a layer of metallic material spreads all around Ren's body except for his face, like a layer of armor.

As the last spot on Ren's body was covered up with metal, Shelt gently handed over Ren to Haze.

"I'll join you later; please get Ren treated." Shelt said in an uncomfortably neutral voice, like she's trying her best not to break character.

With that said, Haze and Vinte had no more reason to stay any longer, so they decided to stop dilly-dallying and get Ren and his sister the treatment they deserve.

Just like how they arrived, they left with the same method, leaving Shelt alone with her own thoughts.

"Kealf..." Shelt mumbled the name of her brother, the father of Ren and Rekka.

Physically and mentally tired, Shelt looked around her, looking at rubble around her, her eyes eventually wandering across an extra-large piece of concrete with its symmetrical shape intact.

"Haaaaah" Shelt exhaled as she sat on the hard concrete rubble.

Looking into the sky, she took one long, deliberate blink.

Upon a second blink, beads of clear liquid slowly trickled down her cheek.

Quiet and alone, on a field surrounded by rubble of what used to be a nice and flourishing city, Shelt sat there, eyes closed, soundless as streaks of tears kept on coming like an endless stream.

Mourning the death of the last direct family member she had left

...

"We should be fine with the remaining Node canisters, unless you have something to tell," Kanum stated as he side-eyed Tali in a casual tone.

"Yeah... But even if we don't, it's not going to be the problem; I'll fall first before our Node reserves could run." Tali joked, his voice slowly turning empathetic.

Currently, their mission to transport the hundreds of thousands of civilians into the safe zone was completed; however, Tali still needed to maintain the island-like floating districts in the air, which still required a lot of Node.

But Node is not the problem here, because of what Tali had resorted to before Locce and Kanum returned with the Node Canisters he needed, he had received severe consequences that caused his current state to deteriorate significantly. But Tali already knew that, which is why he decided to tell Kanum about it so Kanum could figure out a plan beforehand.

"So you can finally talk now," Kanum said in surprise.

"Yeah," Tali responded with a small smile.

"Eh, don't worry about that too much; just maintain it for as long as you can. I should be able to take over the rest if I use a leaf" Kanum shrugged his shoulders.

"Isn't a leaf something that could take years to regenerate?" Tali questioned, concerned for his new friend, Kanum.

"Well, sure, but it's not like I'll be needing a leaf anytime soon... and plus, I don't want to hear that from you, Mr. Overboard." Kanum retorted snidely.

As Kanum and Tali were having their conversation, below them was another evacuation taking place to clear the area for landing. And as Kanum gazed at their progress, he wasn't too sure if Tali could last, so, secretly, he prepared himself to use his power to save it after Tali croaks.

"Speaking of which, what is your leaf's ability that you're confident with?" Tali deflected

"Fine, I'll bite-"


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